From a location to a clearer sign plan
SignAllow holds each municipality's sign by-law as data: the limits, the arithmetic, the lighting rules and the fees, each tied to its section. Start with your location and sign type, then refine the result with the details you know. Coverage varies by municipality; unknowns stay clearly marked.
01Where is the sign going?
Enter the address and choose the municipality. Where the by-law divides the city into sign districts or zone categories, SignAllow shows you the choices and a link to the map, so you pick the one for your property.
02What are you putting up?
On the building, freestanding, projecting, a new face in an existing frame, or a small directional sign. Wall width, frontage and sign dimensions are optional: add them and the answer is worked out for your wall.
03Read the answer
You'll see whether the sign type is allowed, how big it can be, whether it can be lit and what the permit costs, plus a short list of things to confirm with the municipality.
What you get
- The limit for your sign: the percentage, per-metre allowance or cap the by-law sets, and the figure for your wall once you add dimensions.
- Lighting: whether it can be lit, brightness caps, light spill, hours and digital-sign rules.
- Cost and timing: the permit fee and, where published, variance fees and review times.
- What to confirm: the points a municipality could read differently, so you ask the right question.
- A report: a PDF or web page with your inputs, every section relied on, the version of the rules it used and a reference number.
What it doesn't do
- It isn't a permit or an approval, and it doesn't decide how the municipality will classify your property or sign.
- It doesn't cover site-specific amendments, heritage or site-plan conditions unless the by-law itself states them.
- Building Code, electrical (ESA) and structural requirements are out of scope.
- Highway-related approval is a separate review. Check MTO’s permit-control mapping and confirm whether the proposed work needs a provincial permit.
Verify anything you'll rely on for fabrication, installation or a permit application with the municipality.
How the rules are read
Each by-law is read from the municipality's own documents in two separate checks. A figure is published as a number only where both checks agree; where they don't, SignAllow says so instead of picking one. Every city's rules carry the date we last checked them, and every report records which version of the rules it used.
Step-by-step guide to using SignAllow → · The full method → · What we found reading 29 by-laws →